Captive Prince: Volume Two (Captive Prince #2) by C.S. Pacat

Review

Before I say anything else: if you have not read Captive Prince, the first book in this installment, do not bother to read further. You cannot come in in the middle of this story, it requires and demands full attention from the beginning. The good news is that it is not taxing attention, you will love every word and feel swallowed by this world. Block off some time, grab your favorite edible reading accompaniment and get going. This review will be waiting for you when you return.

I’m marathon reading these ­ just finished the first and the third is waiting on my iPad. I’m popping in to review each as I read them, as a point of information.

Now, onto our show.

Ughhhhhhhh, war. Is this going to be flipping Two Towers all freaking over again? is what ran through my head as I opened Prince’s Gambit. Picking up right where the first installment left off, this bit of our epic saga has our favorite lads off to war. They’re heading back to Damen’s home turf to possibly overthrow his half­brother, who usurped his throne in book one. We also discovered in book one that Laurent’s uncle, the Regent, is a dirty one and is looking to start a war between the two countries. All very Prince Humperdink if you ask me, but certainly intriguing none the less.

War, for all records, is not something I super enjoy reading about. Well, scratch that, I hate reading about battles. So when the conclusion of book one set up the idea that Laurent and Damen were about to do a whole lot of thrusting and not the sexual kind, my interest was cooled a bit. I was excited for more of Pascat’s writing because hoo buddy can this lady use words, but the plot I was nervous about.

Middle pieces of fantasy are the connective tissue. The world has been established, but before the epic conclusion can commence, life has to happen. Prince’s Gambit is where life happens. Laurent and Damen get to know each other better. Damen continues to demonstrate that he’s a fundamentally good dude who probably would have made an excellent king, as long as he had someone like Laurent in his cabinet. Laurent is our consummate chess player, our politician, who is at least 400 steps ahead of everyone else. Not someone you want to trifle with, but Damen seems up to the task.

So, to be honest, and I am always honest in these things, I didn’t love the battle descriptions. But I was never going to love the battle descriptions. What I did love was absolutely everything else.

I am not spoiling anything about this book here. There are twists and turns (one scene in the middle literally took my breath away and I hugged the book when it was done) and all the other levels of politics and intrigue that one would expect from a sweeping epic.

I hugged my iPad when I was doing reading. I made all the happy book noises. I am so here for the conclusion of this series it’s almost painful. Excuse me while I hovel on my sofa, ignore the world for a few hours and finish out with Laurent and Damon. I’ll see you all in a few thousand words.